If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink (Jn. 7:37) / OrthoChristian.Com

Metropolitan Luke’s wartime notes

Photo: hram-troicy.prihod.ru

Christ is Risen, my dear readers!

Christ’s words here to the Jews are directed to each of us. All of human civilization is founded upon this thirst. It is the engine of progress, the stimulus for our scientific discoveries and of artistic and poetic creativity. This thirst is the cause of drug addiction, drunkenness, fornication, and other passions. Man lost paradise, but in his soul remains the memory of that time when everything was very good for him, when he was filled with such fullness that he didn’t want to part with it, and it gave his soul what we would call today, total happiness. But this fullness disappeared, and after the fall, man began to occupy himself with science, thinking to build an earthly paradise with its help. But it all turned out not to be so. And no matter what man invents, in the end it always turns out to be only one thing: a murder weapon. He thought that sensual, aesthetical, emotional, and physiological pleasures would give him a certain fullness of being; but after these things, in the soul remains at best a pleasant aftertaste, and not for long at that. Or emptiness, a feeling of deception and a kind of fakeness. There has never been a single person on earth to whom money, glory, or power could give the happiness he desired. To the contrary, the more a person owns, the more he is owned by what he has horded, acquired, and attained. That person has become no more than the pitiful slave of his own desires.

The only thing that can give us happiness is the Living Water of grace, which the Savior offers us. But it is found in the very depths of our souls. Caves lead to it: one with copper, the next with silver, and only in the third has the gold of grace, which we can draw up only if we do not stuff our pockets with the copper of sensual pleasures, and the soul with the silver of emotional joys; we can have it when we direct our minds and hearts straight to our spirit, in which is found the spring of Living Water. Once you’ve reached it you will know what true happiness really is.

Comments

Pfmd5/15/2023 7:52 pm

EmilyS: With respect to your Christian sentiments, “our lives are under the protection of the prayers of the Holy Theotokos and Our Father, who loves mankind.”, with which I agree with as much as you. You also say: “I am also upset and greatly troubled by what is happening all over the world.”, and your personal answer to that dilemma is to, “ Let us remember to pray diligently for our brothers and sisters who suffer” and “Let us rather be calm and patient and rest in this mercy.”, but if all of us pray and stay calm as yourself, who will remain to fight for and correct the injustices rendered unto our Orthodox brothers and sisters”? Forgive me, but Orthodoxy and Christianity is not a magic show, which will magically provide you for whatever you desire through prayer alone. On the other side of your prayer is Christ’s militia, if you will, of individuals who have committed their lives for the protection of that Orthodoxy and God’s new covenant which you enjoy calmly, peaceful and with patience. I have said before on this forum; that Christianity does not consist exclusively of followers with the traits of “saintly” and “gentle”, a false and erroneous understanding of Christianity. Another member of Christ’s militia of the highest order exists and protects that Orthodoxy through whatever measures are necessary, to provide you with that peace and tranquility, allowing you full excess to practice that Orthodoxy. Those Christ’s soldiers of the highest Christian order, are presently fighting and being killed/slaughtered as Orthodox soldiers (Christ’s militia), to preserve the Orthodox faith and Orthodox civilization today, in a place known as Ukraine--Please pray for those men and women and their Orthodox families, that are being rendered fatherless, husbandless, brother less, sister less. You end your comment with: “let us look into our own lives” for he is coming. Please let us examine ourselves and determine what are our priorities and what are our values and beliefs and not concern ourselves so much with our final destination.

Pfmd5/15/2023 6:34 pm

emilyS: Some “christians” as yourself preach remaining “calm and patient” and do nothing in the face of the Orthodox persecution. This attitude will lead all Orthodox to the slaughter and eventual extinction, and certain individuals will claim “calmness and do nothing” to expedite this present massacre against the Orthodox. My advice to you is to bring as much information to the world as possible of the atrocities committed by the Anglo-American Nazis against Orthodoxy and it’s children in Russia, Ukraine, Kosovo, Yugoslavia and of the millions killed in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afganistan and the remaining hundreds of millions slaughtered elsewhere by the Anglo-Americans, who have again have raised the specter of Nazism. Please pray for the slaughtered millions of Orthodox souls extinguished in the name of Anglo-American supremacy ,but I will fight to the death to expose the present Orthodox slaughter.

EmilyS5/14/2023 4:43 pm

Dear Pfmd Christ is Risen! I read your comments and even although I live in another hemisphere, where these issues that you mention and terrible traumas do not impact my daily life in a direct manner - I am also upset and greatly troubled by what is happening all over the world. We, as Christians, should remind ourselves every day; and if necessary more than once a day, that our lives are under the protection of the prayers of the Holy Theotokos and Our Father, who loves mankind. Let us rather then be calm and patient and rest in this mercy. Let us remember to pray diligently for our brothers and sisters who suffer and let us look into our own lives and be ever ready for His coming.

Pfmd5/14/2023 3:22 pm

????????????????Zelensky thanked Germany for "the biggest military aid package since the start of the war." “Thanks to Germany for the largest military aid package since the start of a full-scale Russian invasion. German air defense systems, artillery, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are saving Ukrainian lives and bringing us closer to victory,” Zelensky wrote. Earlier Der Spiegel reported that during Zelensky's visit to Germany on May 14, he should be provided with the largest German arms package - for 2.7 billion euros. According to Spiegel,Germany was intended to send to Ukraine: - 20 Marder armored personnel carriers - 30 Leopard 1 tanks, - 18 wheeled self-propelled howitzers, - 4 air defense systems IRIS-T-SLM, - 12 IRIS-T-SLS launchers with guided missiles. ????????????????Scholz: Germany has provided support to Ukraine in the amount of €17 billion since February 2022 According to the German Chancellor, Berlin "will not weaken its efforts" in this direction Germany will continue to support Ukraine, Berlin "will not weaken its efforts" in this direction. This assurance was made on Sunday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. "Since the beginning of the war, our support for Ukraine amounts to €17 billion," he said. "We support Ukraine not only in humanitarian terms, but also in political, financial and, of course, arms supplies. I have often said and I will repeat again today: we will continue to support you as long as it takes," the German Chancellor stressed. @DDGeopolitics

Pfmd5/13/2023 8:35 pm

MOSCOW, May 13 - RIA Novosti. Ukrainian troops shelled Donetsk and Yasinovataya. In an hour and a half, fired 16 shells of 155 mm caliber and six shells of 152 mm caliber, the representative office of the Donetsk People's Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to War Crimes of Ukraine (CCCC) reported in the Telegram channel. "Fire was recorded by VFU (armed formations of Ukraine - ed.) in the direction: 07:05 (coincides with Moscow time) - the village of Lastochkino - the city of Donetsk (Kuibyshev and Kiev districts): five shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters were fired... 07:45 - the village of Lastochkino - the city of Donetsk (Kuibyshev and Kiev districts): six shells of 155 mm caliber were fired...08:10 - the village of Orlovka - city of Donetsk (Kiev district): five shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters were fired ...08:35 - the village of Lastochkino - the village of Yasinovataya: six shells of 152 mm caliber were fired," the reports read. Artillery of 155 mm caliber is used by NATO countries. The United States supplied Ukraine with long-range M777 howitzers of 155 mm caliber, Ukrainian troops are actively using them to shell the cities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Also, the Ukrainian troops were supplied with German PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery units, Polish Krab self-propelled guns and French CAESAR self-propelled guns using shells of this caliber.

Pfmd5/13/2023 8:01 pm

India is set to embark on a major diplomatic campaign to retrieve thousands of artifacts, including one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, which had been removed from the country by Britain during the colonial period, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing sources. “The push to reclaim the treasures lost back in the day of the British Empire is said to “come from the top” echelons of Indian officials. The campaign is also reportedly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s priority list, with one Telegraph source describing the initiative as “reckoning with the past.” The effort to return the items will be led by Indian ministerial and diplomatic staff, with Telegraph sources alleging that some officials deem the artifacts taken during British colonial rule as basically stolen due to being “unethically” removed in a state of “colonial coercion.” The campaign to retrieve the artifacts may mar relations between the UK and India, which was described as Britain’s 'Jewel in the Crown' during the colonial era due to its vast resources and strategic location, the report says. The campaign will reportedly specifically seek to repatriate the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond. The precious gem, which was once held by Indian rulers, but was acquired by the British during the annexation of the Punjab province in 1849, is currently set in the crown of the late mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Neither the crown nor the diamond, however, was used during the recent coronation of King Charles III after India’s ruling party warned London that doing so could bring back “painful memories of the colonial past.”

Pfmd5/13/2023 7:58 pm

“ Conflict between the world’s leading economic powers (US-United Satanists, UK, EU=my insertion) threatens smaller and less developed nations, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has declared. “The most powerful economies are in a fractious trade conflict that threatens all the smaller economies of the world,” she said in a budget speech in parliament on Wednesday. “The poor and marginalized are facing the greatest threat in that their plight is forgotten while the mighty fight.” “This is not the world many hoped for when the Cold War ended,” she added.

Pfmd5/13/2023 7:47 pm

May 13, 2023. Today, a four-year-old child and his mother were killed as a result of the shelling of the Kuibyshevsky district in Donetsk. Due to the hit of an explosive object, the house where they lived burned down. My condolences to family and friends. At the moment, due to shelling from the Ukrainian side, six people were injured in Yasinovataya, Gorlovka, Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk. All victims received medical assistance. 18 houses and five civil infrastructure facilities in Donetsk and Gorlovka were damaged. @pushilindenis

Pfmd5/13/2023 4:41 am

Six children were injured in Friday’s attack on the Donbass city of Lugansk, according to local authorities. Two of the wounded minors were reportedly in serious enough condition to require hospital care. At least two missiles struck the ‘Poly-pack’ food processing factory and the ‘Milam’ home goods store in central Lugansk on Friday afternoon. The attack came as the Lugansk People’s Republic celebrated its national holiday. While the factory was closed, the blasts shattered the surrounding residential homes. The acting head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik called the strike “barbaric” and a “cynical war crime of the Kiev regime,” Unlike Donetsk, which continues to be shelled, Lugansk was long considered to be out of range of Ukrainian artillery. Russian authorities initially suspected that Kiev’s forces had used “Grom” tactical missiles. Shortly after the strike, however, a US-made ADM-160B decoy missile was recovered largely intact in the city center. It was unclear whether Kiev’s forces had deployed the decoys to fool the Russian air defenses, or had somehow rigged them with explosive warheads and used them in the strike. According to the specification provided by its maker Raytheon, the ADM-160B has a maximum range of 800 kilometers. The decoys were not on the Pentagon’s official lists of almost $40 billion worth of weaponry and ammunition the US has provided to Kiev since President Joe Biden took office.

Pfmd5/12/2023 6:55 pm

On 11 April 2023, Kiev's armed forces blew up a building and its cellar containing 17 civilians. Seven, including a child, died in the explosion. Miraculously, Yulia, her husband, and their two children, the youngest of whom was only two days old, survived. Yulia tells us how the Ukrainian army shelled Artyomovsk as early as 2022 while Russian forces were still in Popasnaya, how the "White Angels" forcibly removed the children from the city, and how the Kiev armed forces mined and then blew up their building even though they knew that civilians were inside. https://odysee.com/@donbassinsider:b/refugee-artyomovsk-en-24042023:0

pfmd5/12/2023 6:54 pm

Eva Bartlett May 8, 2023: Beautiful Donetsk. ...but then, there's always the danger of stepping on a Petal mine, one of tens of thousands fired by Ukraine onto civilian areas of the DPR, maiming at least 112 civilians, killing 3. Or, Ukraine could shell again, no matter which civilian area of the city.

Pfmd5/12/2023 6:50 pm

Eva Bartlett, May 10, 2023 “My latest article, on recent Ukrainian terrorism of Donetsk, and a review of just some of the horrific Ukrainian bombing of the city centre last year, targeting markets, hospitals, hotels, busy streets, parks, public transportation, and most importantly the civilians in these places. Like Israel and terrorists formerly occupying Syrian cities), Ukraine chooses busy times of day to target busy places, ensuring a maximum number of injured & killed civilians. Likewise, Ukraine routinely targets rescuers after they've arrived, preventing them from helping the injured.” Related links: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/what-ive-seen-of-ukraines-war-crimes-against-civilians-in-the-donbass-over-the-years/ https://www.donbass-insider.com/2023/04/17/ukrainian-army-bombs-donetsk-centre-during-easter-mass/ https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/09/23/ukrainian-army-war-crimes-include-shelling-of-ambulences-firetrucks-and-rescue-workers-in-the-donbass-republics-similar-to-israelis-and-u-s-backed-terrorists-in-syria/ https://ingaza.wordpress.com/the-donbass-my-articles-videos-interviews-from-on-the-donetsk-lugansk-peoples-republics-2019-present/

Pfmd5/12/2023 6:36 pm

The Kiev regime relies on terror and continues to shell civilian areas in Donetsk, Makeyevka, and Gorlovka, Yuri Knutov, military historian, publicist, and director of the Air Defense Forces Museum, told Sputnik, denouncing attacks on historically Russia-speaking regions as genocide. "If we talk about the [Kiev regime's] shelling of civilians, social infrastructure facilities, residential buildings, of course, this constitutes a war crime," said Knutov. "Moreover, it can even be considered as elements of genocide against the Russian-speaking population."

Micah 5/12/2023 9:53 am

Super

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink (Jn. 7:37)

Metropolitan Luke’s wartime notes

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